


Falling Sideways

by grapenight



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Crushes, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Hate to Love, M/M, Pranks and Practical Jokes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-06-23
Updated: 2015-09-13
Packaged: 2018-04-05 14:10:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 10,605
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4182825
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/grapenight/pseuds/grapenight
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Louis hates Zayn. Zayn hates Louis. Harry missed the memo not to get a crush on the enemy.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This will probably be very lame, I am aware, I'm just having fun. They're all the same age here, around 16/17.

**Louis**

Louis placed one last balloon in Liam's locker, and took a small step back, admiring his work. Liam's locker was filled to the brim with brightly colored balloons, most of which were sure to fall out the second he opened it later that day. Since the balloons themselves were a relatively easy clean up, Louis also added a significant amount of glitter spread between the balloons. He had gotten some on himself during the process, but it would be worth it for Liam's face when he found his books covered in glitter. Louis was extremely proud of his prank. 

"Oh, it is Liam's birthday?" A voice inquired, causing Louis to jump, startled at getting caught. He turned to find that the voice belonged to a student, and not a teacher, and he relaxed. But he wasn't happy that of all people to catch him, it would be Harry fucking Styles. While Harry himself had never really bothered Louis, he was friends with Zayn, which was more than enough to show what kind of person he was. Louis was still recovered emotionally from how Zayn had fucked him up, over a year ago. Because of this, he knew better than to trust any of Zayn's shiny, new friends. 

"No, it's not. And you better not say anything to him," Louis warned. "Why are you even here? School doesn't start for another half an hour, don't you have cigarettes to smoke, or angry poetry to read? Surely being in here is setting you behind schedule." 

Harry's mouth turned down at that, and his gaze dropped to the floor. "I'm just going to my locker, getting some books," he explained. 

Louis stared at him, waiting for him to move on. When he didn't, he said, "So? Are you going to get on with it?" 

Harry's hand moved up to his hair, and arranged it, before answering, "You're stuff is blocking my locker," and pointed to the locker directly beside Liam's. 

"Oh," Louis replied, grabbing his bag, and the supplies he had used for Liam's locker. "I guess I'm done here anyways." 

Harry didn't look at him once as he left, the superior shit he thought he was. Louis hated Harry, and all the people like Harry. 

 

 

"Tommo!" Niall greeted, catching up with Louis on their way to their shared second period class. "You prank on Liam was brilliant, his pants are covered in glitter, it's the funniest thing. And he didn't know what to do with all the balloons, so he ended up just giving them out to anyone who would take one. In my opinion he should have tried to sell them, he might've been able to make a nice little profit." 

"I'm glad he didn't," Louis replied, "Because that would have killed the effectiveness of my prank. He can't benefit from it." 

"He's going to get you back good for that, you know," Niall pointed out. 

"I would like to see him try." 

They got to their class, and sat down in their normal seats, while Niall questioned him about the details of the prank. 

"It was surprisingly easy," Louis explained, "If you walk with a purpose around here, no one questions you. I walked by at least four teachers, and none of them said anything to me. It was great. Until fucking Styles showed up. I was afraid he was going to tattle on me or something, you know what his type is like." 

Niall nodded in agreement. "Last week Zayn told the librarian I had food. I wasn't bothering a soul, just enjoying a snack in my study time! And could you imagine if someone said one thing about him smoking in the gazebo? He'd make their life hell. I can't believe we used to be friends with him, why'd he change so much?" 

Louis shrugged his shoulders, "If only I knew." 

 

 

It had been over a year since Louis and Zayn had been close friends. It had been a long year. Louis would never say he missed Zayn, not since he became the total asshole he currently was, but he missed the old Zayn. His friend from when they were kids. The Zayn who would talk about superheroes with the biggest smile on his face, and would always be up to helping Louis do something mischievous. Not the Zayn who puffed on a cigarette, blowing the smoke in people's faces, and insulted people for laughs with his snobby friends. Not that Zayn. Louis couldn't understand how a person could change so much so quickly. 

Luckily for Louis, when Zayn screwed him over, he still had Niall and Liam. They were true friends, kind and supportive. Louis loved them. And they loved Louis, even when he did things like filling their lockers up with balloons and glitter. 

"I would be more mad at you," Liam said at lunch, after he had softly smacked Louis in the face as revenge, "if the balloons and glitter weren't in my favorite colors. Seeing as they were, I'll cut you some slack." 

"I still think it was amazing," Niall said. "I feel bad for whoever has to clean up Liam's glitter trail, though. I saw his chair after he got up in first period, and it was coated in the stuff." 

Liam set his face on the table and groaned. "I tried my best not to get it anywhere, but it's so hard because it's everywhere. It's impossible to control." 

Louis laughed, pleased with himself. He used the lull in the conversation to get up and throw his trash away. By his luck, though, Harry and Zayn reached the trash just seconds before Louis, and they took their sweet time throwing their things away. 

Louis tried to keep quiet, he really did, but keeping his snippy comments to himself was not one of his talents. 

"Let's get a move on. Some people don't have all the time in the world to throw their trash away." 

Zayn turned to gare at him, "Shut up, we're not even taking that long." 

Louis raised an eyebrow, "Yet, you're still standing there, blocking my way." 

"Can you just grow-" Zayn started, only to be interrupted by Harry slightly pushing him away from the trash. 

"Let it go, Zayn, let's just go," Harry murmured. 

"Yeah, listen to your friend, he seems smarter than you. Not that it's difficult, but still, props to him," Louis commented. 

"You just like hearing yourself talk," Zayn snarled, and Harry pushed him even further away before either Louis or Zayn could say anything more. 

Louis finally got to throw his trash away, and he rushed back to his table to fill his friends in on Zayn's behavior of that day. He and Louis hadn't run into each other many times in the last year, but every time they did they managed to get in a fight. Luckily, none of them had turned physical. Louis wasn't sure either of them would benefit form that situation. 

As Louis filled Niall and Liam in on what had happened, he was pleased that they were just as pissed as he was. Louis wasn't the only one who was hurt when Zayn suddenly decided he was better than his friends.

 

 

**Harry**

"Why can't you just be nice to Louis?" Harry asked as he and Zayn walked back to their table.

"That's rich of you to say when I know for a fact he hasn't been nice to you once in your entire life," Zayn replied. 

Harry couldn't deny the truth in the statement. "But I've only been here for a couple of months, there's still plenty of time for him to be nice to me." 

"You're just happy he said you were smart," Zayn said, sinking into his seat at their table. "You're too blinded by your want to suck his dick to see what a complete asshole he is." 

Harry slapped Zayn's arm, scandalized. "Don't say that so loudly! He is cute, though. And really funny. Maybe he's just mean to me because you're always just as mean to him. He has a completely skewed impression of us, I know. I saw him this morning, he was putting balloons in Liam's locker, and he talked to me. He thinks we're just stuck up snobs." 

"You're implying we're not snobs?" Nick joined the conversation, laughing. 

Harry shook his head at his friend. "No, we're not. And if Louis could see that, he'd know we were cool, and maybe he'd want to be friends!" 

"You're too innocent, Harry. I've been friends with Louis before. Pretty close friends, you haven't forgotten that, have you? I'm perfectly aware of how he is, and he knows how I am, and he just doesn't like it anymore. You need to give up on your crush, it's a little hopeless. There are plenty of sane boys out there, please find one of them," Zayn begged.  
Harry didn't reply, and the last five minutes of lunch was spent in silence at their table. Harry didn't even bother to deny his crush on Louis, because it was true. Zayn was aware of that no matter how many times Harry denied it. 

He had been interested in Louis Tomlinson since the first time he saw him pouring juice all over his friend at lunch. In any normal situation, the friend would have screamed, hit Louis, something along those lines. That would have been a reasonable reaction to getting red juiced spilled over your white shirt. Louis' friend, smiled at him, like he couldn't have been happier in any other situation. Five minutes later he retaliated with his own cup of juice. Both parties looked so happy that Harry found himself wanting nothing more than to have juice spilled on him by Louis Tomlinson. 

It had been another week after that until Harry got the nerve to ask Zayn about his new interest. 

"Louis? Louis Tomlinson?" Zayn had asked, his eyes widening. "Oh, no, Harry, you don't want anything to do with him. He's bad news. He'd crush you. I'd know, I used to be close with him. You need to stay away." 

Harry had dropped the subject then, but he didn't drop Louis from his mind. He seemed like so much fun, and his smile was possibly the brightest thing Harry had ever seen. He made it his mission to befriend Louis eventually, but that was much harder by the fact that the boy hated him before he even had the chance to get to know him. Louis' bright smile had never been directed toward Harry. All Harry had gotten were hard glares and a tight frown. 

Eventually Harry learned he would never get to be friends with Louis when he and Zayn still hated each other. He then knew his first step in getting close to Louis would have to be to get Zayn to stop hating him. His efforts on that front had been largely unsuccessful, attempts going similarly, if not worse, to the day by the trash. Harry had his work cut out for him.


	2. Chapter 2

**Louis**

The clock was mocking Louis, seemingly not moving. He was going to spend eternity in the last five minutes of his English class. To make matters even worse, he was stuck with Zayn and a good portion of his crew. He didn't miss the taunting looks Harry sent his way. Louis didn't know why the kid was so strange with him. He got that he was Zayn's friend, so he was destined not to like Louis, but he could have just let it go and avoided him, but no. He seemed to go out of his way to talk to Louis, or to show up wherever Louis was, just to be an asshole. Louis figured Zayn set him up to do it, too good to bother Louis himself. 

To help pass the time, which still wasn't fucking changing, Louis imagined Zayn and Harry getting in trouble in a variety of different ways. Getting yelled at by every possible teacher, finally getting caught for smoking, possibly getting expelled for some reason. When that stopped being entertaining, he imagine possible pranks he could play on them. Not nice, little ones, like he would do to Niall or Liam, but full on pranks. Ruined clothing, huge messes, the whole nine yards. He imagined their reactions and smiled to himself. If only he could actually get away with doing something like that. 

The bell finally rang, blessing Louis. He never left a classroom faster, pushing right by Harry, who actually squealed a little at the unexpected contact. He was a strange guy.   
Louis went straight for his locker, throwing all his books in there, not worried about any homework he had. He then walked to Niall's locker, where Liam was also waiting. Louis greeted Liam by throwing an arm around him. 

"Liam! How's the glitter treating you?" He asked innocently. 

Liam lifted up an arm, a few specks glittering in the light. "It's gotten to the point where I don't even notice anymore. I have accepted this as my life. Thank you, Louis." 

"I actually have some left," Louis said, setting his bag down and searching for the bottle. 

Liam's hand shot out and pulled Louis' away from the zipper. "No, I don't think so. I'm not letting you put anymore on me." 

"C'mon, Liam! Where's your sense of fun?" 

"I must have given it away with the balloons this morning," Liam retorted, causing Louis to laugh. 

Niall arrived to his locker then, and put his books away. "You know, Liam, I found glitter inside of my chemistry book. How did that even happen?" 

That only caused Louis to laugh even more, while Liam said, "Now you know my pain. My books will be sparkly for the rest of the year." 

Louis was pretty successful in his prank, then. Maybe that's a sign that he should pull a horrendous prank on Zayn, he thought just as the boy walked by, Harry in tow, as always. Well, it was actually more like Zayn sauntered down the hallway while Harry cheerfully walked beside him. It still gave off the feeling that Harry would follow Zayn anywhere. 

Harry glanced over towards Louis, and his eyes froze on him. His feet stuttered, and Louis could tell he almost tripped. Louis started laughing immediately, and Harry quickly broke his gaze and hurried to keep up with Zayn, eyes now steadily on the floor. 

Louis was happy to see the boy taken down a few pegs. There was no need for an ego that big. 

Liam nudged him, "If you stare for much longer, he might get the wrong impression." 

Louis looked over to Liam quickly and saw him smiling wickedly. That kind of smile only came out when Liam was feeling particularly mischievous, usually related to something Louis did. Louis loved and feared that look. 

"Shut the fuck up, Payne," he replied, shoving him away. "Let's get out of here." 

 

**Harry**

The next week, on Wednesday morning, Harry found himself sitting alone outside the school, waiting for the bell to ring. Zayn was skipping, and Nick was nowhere to be found. Harry didn't actually have many other friends, those two were definitely who he was closest to, and he didn't feel like seeking out any friendly acquaintances. 

He was trying to read his assigned book for English, but it wasn't holding his attention very well. He found himself looking up at every person who walked by, which is how he knew Liam was walking towards him. At first, he thought he was just imagining it, and Liam just happened to be walking in his direction, but he stopped right in front of him. 

"Hello, Harry, how are you?" Liam asked pleasantly. 

"I'm great," Harry, said, smiling at him. He had never talked to Liam much, but from what he knew of him, he was nice. He was also friends with Louis, which meant he had probably been friends with Zayn at one point. Zayn hadn't said much about him, but Harry gathered that he didn't think too poorly of him, even though they had a falling out. "How are you?" 

"I'm wonderful. So, I didn't mean to bother you, but I see you're not too busy right now, so I was wondering if you'd be willing to do me a favor?" Liam asked, sitting down beside Harry, against the wall. 

"Um, I can try. What's the favor?" Harry asked, intrigued. 

"My friend, Louis, he's got a bit of a crush on you. He's too shy to say anything to you, but he really wants to. So I was wondering if you'd be willing to help along the process a little. I'll give you his number, so you can get to know him some more, see if maybe you'd be willing to give him a chance?" Liam asked, looking hopeful. 

Harry's breath caught in his throat at what he had just been told. Louis had a crush on him? That meant Louis wasn't straight. That meant Harry actually had a chance. 

"He's not straight?" Harry finally said, his brain failing him on any other words. 

Liam smiled wider, "Not at all. But he's not exactly secure in his sexuality. I don't mean to make assumptions, but I assume you are?" 

Harry nodded. He didn't try to keep it a secret. "I'm gay." 

Liam nodded, "Wonderful! You could really be such a good influence on Lou, he's a little scared. And you would make him so happy. It would be a little bit of a struggle for you, but he's worth it. Would you be willing to give it a try?" 

Harry couldn't trust himself to speak, he was so shocked, and so pleased. He simply nodded. 

"Great!" Liam said, clapping Harry on the back. "I'll write down his number, okay? And I'll put mine under it so you can keep me updated. You'll have to ease him into it, but he'll come around. Thank you so much. He's going to be so happy." 

Harry nodded, "Don't worry, I'm excited. Thanks for telling me. It was great talking to you." 

"Likewise," Liam said. He handed Harry the slip of paper with the numbers on it and stood up. "Alright, well, I should head off now. Oh yeah, one last thing, kind of obvious, but don't tell him I told you anything, okay? Don't let on that you know about his crush, just let it happen more naturally? Can you do that?" 

"I'm all about natural. I'm cool, calm, and collected. That's practically my middle name," Harry said, pushing himself up to stand by Liam. His foot got tangled in the strap of his bag in the process, and he found himself falling toward the ground. "Fuck." 

Liam laughed from above him, and reached down to help him up. "Nice move Harry Cool, Calm, and Collected." 

"It's more appropriate in some areas than others," Harry said, accepting Liam's help and standing up. "I'm a bit prone to clumsiness." 

"Really? I wouldn't have guessed," Liam joked, and Harry could definitely see why he and Louis were friends. They had a similar sense of humor. "Alright, talk to you later, yeah?" 

Harry nodded, "Yeah, later, definitely." 

The bell rang, then, and Liam went off with a wave. Harry leaned back against the wall, breathing in deeply. He could not believe his luck. He looked down at the piece of paper in his hand. He had Louis' number. He actually had a chance with the boy he had a huge crush on. Before he knew it, the second bell rang, signaling he was late to first period. He decided to skip first period, and go get a coffee or something, to celebrate.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! That chapter took long enough, huh? I'll write more frequently, I promise. Feel free to bother me until I do! (You can comment on these, I always reply, or even message me on tumblr if you want, my url is wildpatrick) 
> 
> Also I felt like now would be a good time to say that these characters will do some shitty things. They have done some shitty things. They will learn and grow, eventually.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Italics means text messages. L is Louis, H is Harry (but Louis doesn't know this), Li is Liam, N is Niall, and Z is Zayn.

**Louis**

"Alright, what are you smirking about?" Louis asked, glaring at Liam. 

Liam shook his head, a light smile crossing his face, "Nothing, I'm just in a good mood. Is there anything wrong with that?" 

Louis crossed his arms and leaned back from the table. "No, there isn't, but I can smell the mischief on you, Payne. Don't think you'll be successful in whatever ploy you have." 

Niall joined the table then, setting his tray down with a clank. "Liam has a ploy?" 

Louis looked at his friend, attempting to read him and see if he was truly ignorant of Liam's plans. The other boy seemed far more engrossed in his food than the conversation, so Louis was tempted to believe he was innocent. 

"I don't know what it is, but I know he's up to something. I'm the expert at this stuff, you must know that, Liam," Louis replied 

"Still don't know what you're talking about, you must just be paranoid," Liam retorted. 

"Paranoid, my ass. I'll figure you out," Louis promised. 

 

 

  
It was later that day that Louis received the first text. 

_Unknown number: Hi, Louis!_

Louis looked at the unfamiliar number puzzled by who it was. He hadn't given his number out to anyone recently, he couldn't think who the text would be coming from. 

_L: Hey? Who is this?_

The other person responded quickly. 

_H: You're not going to be happy when I tell you :/_

_L: Why?_

_H: Because you hate me._

Louis raised his eyebrows at that. There weren't many people Louis hated. Zayn, for being a bitchy, back stabbing, waste of a person, old friend, his math teacher, for choosing to shove the horrors of math down childrens' throats, and that one girl that beat him up back in elementary school. He doubted that it was any of them. 

_L: Is this Liam?_

_H: Hahaha, LOUIS! He's your best friend! But nooooooo, it's not._

_L: I'm sure you're not too bad. What makes you think I hate you, anyways?_

_H: Um, maybe the multiple times I have tried to talk to you, only to get rejected? The times you have openly glared at me? I could go on?_

If this person was being honest, it really did seem like Louis hated them. He still had no idea who it could be. 

_L: Why are you talking to me, then?_

The next reply didn't come for a while. Louis stared at his phone, waiting for an answer. 

_H: Because you're really cute. But if that's too forward, I really would like to be friends with you. You're funny, around people you like. And I think you would like me, if you actually give me a chance._

The first sentence made Louis blush. 

_L: You think I'm cute? Like a puppy or something?_

_H: A little bit, yeah. But you're also very, VERY attractive. Just to make that part clear._

Louis stared at his screen, lost for words. He had no idea who this person was. They thought he was attractive. He couldn't believe it. 

_L: You do know I'm gay, right?_

He finally said in reply. He still had no idea if the person was male or female. If they were female, he decided he might let them know they're going down the wrong alley. If they were male, on the other hand. He had a strong hope that it wasn't a girl, based off of the flirty tone of the messages. The entire school knew he was gay. It wasn't his choice, and he hadn't been happy about it for awhile, but in the last couple months, he had accepted it. He stuck close to his friends, the true ones, and kept a safe distance from assholes. He didn't have to hide who he was, which was the good part about being forced out of the closet. He just wished he would have had a choice in the matter. 

_H: I've heard :)_

Louis stared at the smiley face on the screen. What did it mean? Why was he texting a riddle book? 

_L: And?_

_H: I hoped it was true, so I had a chance_

_L: I don't mean to make assumptions, but are you interested in me?_

_H: I thought I made that obvious :P_

Louis' heart beat a bit faster. Being one of the few gay and out students at school, he hadn't dated much, other than Aiden. He shuddered at the thought of mess that had come from that relationship. He didn't have experience, and the experience he did have was not very great. He was lost. 

_L: Um, I truly don't know what to say to that, so why don't you tell me a little bit about yourself? Since you won't tell me your name._

The stranger took a bit longer to reply, so Louis look that time to text Liam. 

_L: Do you know this number??? They texted me, out of nowhere, won't tell me who they are, and I think they're interested in me??? Like they want to date me??? I assume at least._

Louis sent the text, then paced around his room, waiting for someone to text him back. When his phone finally went off, after what felt like ages but was probably just a couple minutes, he leaped onto his bed, stomach first, to read it. 

_Li: Nope, no idea. But, hey, good for you, you need to get some dick._

_L: LIAM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!_

Louis immediately gave up on Liam, since he was clearly no help, and sent a message to Niall. 

_L: Stranger texted me, thinks I'm attractive, knows me in real life, won't tell me who they are? Should I continue to talk to them, or should I call the police?_

_N: TOMMO!!!!! Good for you, keep talking to them. Get it!!! Yeah!_

_L: You and Liam are no help. You're fired. I'm sending out applications for my new friends immediately._

 

 

**Harry**

"Harry! Dinner's ready!" His mother, Anne, called up to him. He put his phone in his pocket and walked down the stairs, unable to keep the smile off his face. Anne noticed immediately. 

"Someone looks extra happy today," She commented. 

"That is true," Harry replied, sitting at the table. Robin was at work, and Gemma was away at college, so it was just he and Anne for dinner. 

"Are you going to let me know why?" She asked, smiling and sitting down herself. 

"I might have found out that a cute boy has a crush on me. I also might be texting him right now," Harry said, and he could feel his own smile get wider when her face lit up.  
"Harry! That's wonderful, I'm so excited for you sweetheart. Tell me about him!" She insisted. 

Harry spent the rest of dinner filling his mother in on Louis, and answering all her questions. 

"Why have I never met this boy before? He sounds wonderful," Anne said. 

"Well, he and Zayn don't actually get along. At all. Like, they hate each other? I don't know exactly what happened, they apparently used to be friends, but Zayn hates him. I probably can't even tell him I'm talking to him. But Louis isn't bad, he's great, I think they had some sort of bad falling out. I don't even know for sure," Harry explained, as well as he could. 

"That won't be good if you and Louis do become closer," Anne commented. 

"I know," Harry said, looking down at his half finished plate. "I'm just hoping it works out." 

"Me, too, honey," She replied, getting up and pulling her son into a hug. Harry hugged her back tightly, and pressed his face into her shoulder. 

"I want it to work out so badly." 

 

After dinner was finished and cleaned up, Harry looked at his phone to find three new texts. 

_L: Um, I truly don't know what to say to that, so why don't you tell me a little bit about yourself? Since you won't tell me your name._

_Unknown number: It's Liam, I got your number from Louis, he texted me asking who you were. Nice work so far, he's definitely intrigued._

_Z: Heeeeyyy, what's going on?_

Harry answered Louis' test immediately, talking about his family, pets, activities, and his favorite music. To Liam's text, he sent a smiley and a thumbs up. It took him a lot longer to figure out a reply to Zayn. 

Zayn was his best friend, he was usually the first person to find out about anything going on in Harry's life, but he knew he wouldn't like it if he found out he was talking to Louis. He would try to get Harry to stop, immediately, and would probably tell him a lot of vague things that he thinks makes Louis a bad person. So he didn't say a word about it. 

_H: Just ate dinner, you know how it goes. About to do my Chemistry homework, I'm probably going to cry a bit. The usual._

He put his phone down, trying to ignore the uneasiness in his stomach.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you liked it! Feel free to comment and tell me what you thought! Also, yeah, Aiden is the asshole ex, because I needed one and I adore Aiden Grimshaw a bit, so I decided to use him. More background on that relationship soon!


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anything in italics means it's a text message, and L is Louis, U or H means Harry, Li is Liam

**Louis**

During lunch, Louis looks around the room, looking for someone who looks suspicious, or someone who looks overly interested in him. He's not very successful. 

"Looking for your mysterious lover?" Liam teased, waving his hand in front of Louis' face. 

Louis swatted at his arm. "Fucker. If you were in my place, you would be doing the same thing." 

Liam shook his head, "I think if I were in your place, I wouldn't continue to text a creepy stranger who thinks I'm hot. It's a little weird." 

"You fucking encouraged me to do it, shut up," Louis replied. 

"Only because you're hopelessly single. I think you having a slightly creepy boyfriend would be better than having to deal with you watching romantic comedies all the time. You cry every time. Even if you've already seen it. It's ridiculous. You need a relationship," Liam replied. 

"You literally don't make any sense," Louis replied, throwing a chip at his face. 

"He actually does have a good point, it'd be cool if you got a boyfriend. Even if he's slightly creepy. As long as he's not an asshole," Niall said, pointed. 

Louis sighed, his heart feeling heavy, as it did every time his past relationship was mentioned. It didn't end well, and everyone around Louis experienced the fallout. 

"Speaking of assholes," Niall said, loudly, just as Zayn and his friends walked by. They all looked over, annoyed, causing Louis and Liam to laugh. 

"Shut the fuck up, we didn't even say anything to you," Nick said, crossing his arms and glaring at the three other boys. 

"Yes, but seeing your faces is offensive enough," Louis replied. 

Harry gasped, and Zayn held on to his arm. "Was that necessary? You're so petty. All three of you. I thought you were at least better than this, Liam," Zayn said, looking in Liam's direction very pointedly. 

Louis opened his mouth to reply, taking just a few seconds to come up with the perfect, sassy, and cutting remark, but Liam beat him to it. 

"You know, I think we all thought a lot of things about each other, and they were clearly wrong. So, please, get your lying, two faced, ass away from us, okay? I don’t want to waste any more time on you." 

It was quiet, for a long time, everyone shocked by what Liam had said. Louis wanted to buy him a bouquet of flowers. Niall was getting red in the face from trying not to laugh. Louis could tell Zayn and Nick were pissed off, but the strangest reaction was their friend Harry, who actually looked like he was about to cry. 

Zayn seemed to notice this, too, because instead of fighting back, he put his arm around Harry's shoulders, whispered something in his ear, which made the boy look even sadder, and then said a bit louder, to Nick, "Come on, let's get out of here." 

Louis watched the trio walk away, the pride from the victory weakened a bit by the sad look on Harry's face. The kid was so strange, Louis just did not understand him. 

 

 

 **Harry**

"Why are they so mean to us? That's not how they are to everyone else! I've seen them interact with other people, none of them are mean! Why are they so awful? I don't get it," Harry said, sliding down to the floor in the bathroom, doing his best to hold back tears. 

"I've told you before, Harry, they're not good people. They're assholes. Don't let them get to you," Zayn said, sitting down beside him, and putting his arm around him again. 

"But they're not assholes. It's literally just us. They hate us. I've never done anything to them, why can't you guys just get over that?" Harry asked, tears dangerously close to spilling over. 

"You don't get it, Harry, they've done tons of shit to us in the past. They've proved how awful they are. They're not worth it," Nick promised. 

Harry didn't believe it. He had been talking to Louis, getting to know him, and he knew he wasn't like that, based off of what he had learned about him. When texting a completely stranger, Louis was polite and understanding. Even when he learned Harry was interested in possibly being more than friends, someday, Louis continued to talk to him, he wasn't creeped out. He seemed like a genuinely good person. He was funny, and understanding, when Harry talked to him anonymously. 

The bathroom stalls began to blur together, the dark blue mixing with the white of the walls, and Harry gave up, resting his head on his knees, and let his tears fall. 

Zayn squeezed Harry's shoulders tighter, consoling his friend. He looked at Nick, and they had a silent conversation that Harry missed, to distracted by his sad thoughts and his tears. They agreed they had to do something to help their friend. 

 

 

 **Louis**

"Come on, Niall, hurry up, Liam's going to be out here soon!" Louis urged, running through the lines of cars, looking for Liam's familiar blue car. The plastic bag he held in his hands jumped around as he ran, the window markers almost falling out. 

"School doesn't end for another fifteen minutes, I think we're good. Running is probably a lot more suspicious, too. There are cameras, you know, I think they might question why two guys are running through the parking lot," Niall argued, running behind his friend. 

Louis skidded to a stop in front of Liam's car, and set the bag down, pulling a marker out for himself and handing another to Niall. "Shut up, we're here now. I know you're just lazy and didn't want to run." 

Niall shrugged in agreement, "You do have a solid point there. Okay, now what are we doing?" 

"That's a window marker, you have to know that. And we're going to use it to draw dicks all over Liam's car." Louis said, already starting on his first drawing. "I have more colors in the bag, if you want to change things up." 

Niall nodded and went to work. Five minutes, and ten cartoon dicks, later, Niall asked, "Is there a reason we're doing this? Didn't you just fuck with his locker a couple of weeks ago?" 

Louis nodded, pleased in the memory of Liam covered in glitter. "Yes, I did. And he hasn't done anything back yet. I think he has something big up his sleeve. I've got to beat him to it." 

Niall laughed, and they went back to work. 

By the time students began filing into the parking lot, Liam's car was sufficiently covered, and he was on his way back to his own car. He was surprised to find two people leaning against it when he got there, and neither of them were his friends, seeing as he had just said goodbye to Niall. 

The thick smell of smoke pierced through his nose before he could get a good look at the figures at his car, and then he knew who was at his car. 

"What are you dicks doing here? Didn't get enough at lunch? Well, you came to the right place, I have plenty of insults to pass around, especially to the likes of you," Louis began. 

Nick laughed, "'The likes of you'? Who the fuck are you, my grandmother?" 

"I think when you insult someone, you're supposed to say something offensive about them, not imply that your grandmother doesn't love you," Louis replied. He knew Nick was about to open his mouth, more than likely to spill another lame attempt at a retort, when he was stopped, surprisingly, by Zayn. 

"Now's not the time for this," Zayn said to Nick, flicking his cigarette on the ground and stomping on it. He turned to Louis. "I know you have issues with me, and Nick's said plenty of shit to you, so you think you have viable reasons to be an asshole to us. I'll take that. But leave Harry out of it. He's got the biggest heart of anyone I know, and he takes all of your insults seriously. He's never done anything to you to deserve the means words, it's not fair." 

Louis got a bit closer to them, adrenaline pumping through his body. "I would know all about unfair treatment, wouldn't I? It's nice to dish it out sometimes, I got sick of being on the receiving end for so long." 

Nick laughed, "Now would be a bad time for a dick joke, I'm assuming." 

Zayn sighed, and ran a hand through his hair. "I really don't want to deal with you right now, Louis, just please stop being an asshole to Harry. He's too sweet to take much more of this." 

With that, Zayn walked away, Nick tagging behind him like a good sidekick. Louis scoffed at them, and unlocked his car. The first thing he did was compose a message to the anonymous boy who had been texting him. 

_L: Why do you think I hate you? Why does everyone think I hate them? Why does it seem like I'm always the bad guy, when I'm the one who has been fucked over so many times?_

_H: You can be really closed off, to everyone who isn't your close friend, and I think you come off wrong. People get the wrong impression. Not to be creepy, but I've seen you with your friends, and you're a completely different person than when you're talking to other people. I think people just need to know the real you, and then they'll like you. I know since I've been talking to you like this, my respect for you has grown a lot. You're a really great person, you just have to let other people see that._

Louis didn't know how true that was. Zayn knew him better than anyone, or he had known him better than anyone, and he used that to fuck him over. But then he thought of Liam and Niall, and knew they would never do something like that to him, they would never share his secrets to the entire school, especially not the ones that needed to be locked away. He concluded that Zayn might just be an outlier to that. And he also decided he was going to try to be a bit more like himself with more people. 

And there was no better place to start with that than Harry Styles. The supposedly big hearted boy who was friends with the enemy. There would be no bigger challenge than that. 

 

 

**Harry**

_L: Thank you. You're too nice to me._

Harry sighed, loudly, and put his face on his pillow. That was possibly true. Harry was always nice to Louis, even though he hadn't ever received the same type of treatment back from the boy in person. He had no plans to change that, though. 

Hours later, his phone buzzed again, and Harry was surprised to see a text from Liam. After what he had said to Harry and his friends earlier, he had assumed Liam had given up on trying to give Harry a chance with Louis.  
_Li: I'm sorry about earlier. None of that was aimed at you. Not from me, and not from Louis. I don't know how much you know about the relationship between us and Zayn, but we used to be really close friends. And, long story short, Zayn broke the trust we all had in him, outed Louis to the entire school, and therefore ruined his relationship. Louis was heartbroken. So we obviously don't think very well of him, anymore._

Harry knew bits of the story, but he had no idea that Zayn had outed Louis. It was shocking, and strange considering how Zayn was bisexual himself, and no one at school knew. he wondered if Liam knew, if Louis knew, and if they did, why they hadn't done anything to him in return. But he was glad they hadn't, glad that they still gave Zayn at least that much respect. 

_H: I'm sorry to hear that. I knew you had a falling out, but I never knew the details. I can stop talking to Louis, don't worry._

Harry sent the reply, even though the last bit was painful to write. He didn't want to make the feud between them any worse, which was what seemed like was happening.  
_Li: No, see that’s why you need to keep talking to Louis! You can help fix all of this. Louis can be happy, and maybe, someday, Zayn will see how happy you are, and realize his mistakes. It can be a win-win._

The message filled Harry with hope. He might actually be able to date his crush, and help his best friend at the same time. He could truly make a positive change in their lives. 

_H: Oh, okay, I see! That's wonderful, then, I will try my best!_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!!! Feel free to tell me what you think! 
> 
> The next chapter is going to be a little different, shorter, and not told from Louis or Harry's point of view. But don't worry, it'll be important in understanding the thoughts and actions of most of the other characters. And, on the plus side, I already have most of it written, so it will be out in a day or two, after I edit it a bit.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a bit different, very short, and in different points of view. The next chapter is back to Louis and Harry.

**Liam**

"Niall, man, I think I might be taking this too far," Liam said into his phone, staring at his wall in front of him. 

"Taking what to far?" Niall questioned. 

"Pranking Louis. This might actually end in him getting hurt. Like, Aiden levels of hurt," Liam explained. 

"What the fuck do you have planned?" 

"I might have given Harry Louis' number, and told him Louis was interested in him, he just had to get him to come around. So Harry has been texting him anonymously, getting Louis to trust him and like him. I don't know what I was thinking. This is going to end so badly. And the fucking Harry kid is so genuine and sweet, I don't know what he's doing being friends with Zayn. I'm going to make this situation even worse. What was I thinking?" 

"Liam, you have to calm down. Maybe it will work out, and Louis and Harry will actually fall for each other. That would be good, right?" 

Liam ran a hand down his face, "But Harry is best friends with Zayn, there's no way this can work out and everyone will be happy. And I just encouraged him more today, because I was pissed off at Louis for all the dicks on my car. They're fucking hard to wipe off, did you know? Nevermind, that's off topic. Point is, I said something about the Aiden situation, and it reminded me of how bad Louis was back then. He would have never played pranks like he does now. He's so happy compared to what he was. And I'm going to fuck it up by taking it too far." 

Niall was quiet for a few long moments, before he finally said, "Well, you know what this means? We're going to have to take our new roles as Liam Payne and Niall Horan, Matchmakers Extraordinaire. We're going to have to do what we can to make this Louis/Harry situation work out well. Are you ready for the challenge?" 

Liam laughed, the stress and tension that he had just minutes ago fading away. Niall was good at doing that. "Yeah, I think I am. Business is open." 

 

 

**Zayn**

"Are you okay? Like, I can kick Louis in the balls tomorrow, if you need. He definitely has it coming," Nick asked, sitting on Zayn's couch. 

Zayn shook his head, "That would solve nothing, except making me feel a slight bit better. I think Harry has a crush on Louis. Whenever we fight with him, it upsets Harry too much, I don't want to hurt him." 

Nick stretched out his legs, "Yeah, but if he somehow becomes friends with Louis, or god forbid, begins dating him, he's going to get hurt, won't he? You know what Louis is like." 

"When you're close to Louis, he's not like that. He's an overprotective asshole if he's close to you. He'd never hurt Harry, if they did get that close," Zayn explained. 

"Yeah, but what happened to you? And don't you dare say he didn't hurt you," Nick pointed out. 

"Too many things happened at once, it was the worst set of circumstances, and the fallout from that, all the fighting and the insults, was too great. That wouldn't happen with Harry. He's smarter than me." 

"Does that mean you're going to help Harry, out sweet, little Harry hook up with Louis? You're going to encourage it?" Nick asked, shocked. 

"If it makes him happy, then yeah." 

Nick threw his hands up in the air, "I'd never thought I'd see the day where you try to help Louis fucking Tomlinson get a boyfriend. Is this the apocalypse?" 

Zayn laughed, "Shut up, and help me come up with some ideas to get this going." 

"Even more unbelievable, I'm helping," Nick whined, but nonetheless, began brainstorming how to get the two boys together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel free to tell me what you think! Thank you so much for reading!


	6. Chapter 6

**Louis**

It was a Friday morning, and Louis found himself ready to leave the house an entire half an hour earlier than usual, for some reason. His sisters were already on the bus, so he couldn't use his extra time to help them get ready. He decided to head to school early, which was quite out of character for him. He knew Liam might be there, as he liked to study or finish some homework before the day began, and Louis was going to join him. 

The drive to school was quick. Louis wasn't stopped by a single stoplight, or slow traffic. The parking lot was much emptier than he was accustomed to seeing it, and he was pleased to get a much closer spot than normal. He decided then that it was going to be a wonderful day. 

As he approached the front doors, he noticed someone sitting by themselves under a tree, not far from the entrance of the school. When he saw the pretty brown curls and the long legs covered in ridiculously tight pants, he realized it was Harry. 

It must have been a sign for Louis to talk to him, since he was alone and Louis had the extra time, so he made his way over to the tree. Harry didn't notice Louis approach him until he sat down, in the grass a few feet in front of him. Louis noted how the other boy jumped a bit, in shock, at seeing Louis. He wasn't aware he was that mean to him, enough to make him scared of him. His stomach turned in guilt. Harry had never been anything but nice to Louis. Even when he was with Zayn, and Louis and Zayn got in a fight, as they usually did, Harry would never say anything mean, he usually tried to stop the fight, unlike his other friend, Nick, who was quick to fan the fire. 

"Hi," Louis greeted. 

Harry blinked at him, not saying anything in reply. Louis was concerned he had permanently scarred the poor boy. 

"Alright so I guess you really don't feel comfortable around me. I'm sorry. Truly. I know I've probably said a lot of mean shit to you, in the past, which wasn't fair, because you didn't do anything to deserve it, besides being friends with Zayn. I shouldn't blame a person for someone else's actions, you know?" Louis said, figuring that the best method of handling the issue at hand would be to dive straight in. 

"Uh..." Harry stared at Louis, his mouth hanging open, the lone word lingering in the air. 

"Wow, was I really that mean to you? I am so truly sorry, Harry, I didn't realize I was so much of an asshole that I scared you, I didn't even know I was capable of something like that," Louis rambled on. He was considering getting on his knees and begging Harry for forgiveness. He wasn't even sure that would help. 

Harry's mouth snapped shut, and he fumbled up onto his feet, "No, no, no, it's fine! I'm just a bit shocked, because I never imagined you would actually talk to me. You've not been that mean to me. I understand you just don't like us." 

Louis shook his head quickly in reply, "That's what I'm saying that was so unfair of me, I should have never judged you so quickly just because you're friends with Zayn. I was being shitty. I'm trying to change that. I don't even know anything about you! Tell me a bit about yourself." 

"I don't smoke," Harry said, and Louis raised his eyebrows in reply. he could have sworn he saw Harry, Zayn, and Nick surrounded by a cloud of smoke on multiple occasions. 

"I'm not sure what your definition of smoking is, but we might have different views," Louis replied, sitting down across from where Harry was just seated, and motioned for him to sit back down. 

"I really don’t. That's just Zayn and Nick. My mother would kill me if I started smoking," Harry informed him. 

Louis laughed, knowing he would get a similar reaction from his own mother. 

"Interesting, tell me more things that I don't know about the mysterious Harry Styles," Louis encouraged. 

"I'm not really mysterious, you just hate me," Harry replied, deadpan. 

Louis choked on air, laughter falling out from his lips. He could already tell Harry was full of surprises. 

 

 

 **Harry**

When Louis approached Harry in the morning, he was afraid he was going to have a heart attack right there. Sure, he had talked to Louis before, and actually got to know him from behind a disguise of sorts, but in no way was he prepared to actually talk to Louis. 

It was made even worse when Louis apologized. Harry's brain melted, and he was incapable of thinking. He was only able to finally snap out of it when Louis began feeling really bad about himself, and after that, the conversation went swimmingly. He blurted out random facts about himself, and was even able to make some jokes. Even more shocking, he made Louis laugh, multiple times at that. 

They lost track of time quickly, and before they knew it, the bell to first period was ringing. 

"Would you look at that, time to go to class, I guess," Louis stood up, and offered his hand out to Harry to help him up. Harry had to refrain himself from getting excited about holding Louis' hand, telling himself to stop being weird. A little voice in the back of his head reminded him of Liam's words, saying Louis was interested in Harry, too, and Harry let himself relish in the joy from holding Harry's hand a bit longer. 

"It was great talking to you, it's really a shame I've been such an asshole until now," Louis said as they walked to the building. 

"You weren't an asshole," Harry assured him. 

Louis elbowed him softly in the side, "Come on, you know I was a bit of an asshole. Don’t worry, though, I'm going to make it up to you. I think we can actually be great friends, if you're okay with that." 

Harry chose not to share just how very okay with that idea he was. He simply nodded, not trusting himself to speak. 

"Alright, wonderful. Now, we must part, but I will catch up with you sometime later, yeah? Think of a few more Harry facts!" Louis called as he began walking down the hallway. 

Harry walked the opposite direction, his imagination bursting with images of he and Louis holding hands, not just for the friendly gesture of helping someone up. In his imagination, it was a sign of how much they cared about each other. Harry couldn't believe that someday soon his imaginations might become reality. 

He was so wrapped up in his own head, he didn't even notice Zayn and Nick standing against the walls, watching the entire exchange.

 

 

Later that day, around lunch time, Harry got a text from Louis.

_L: I'm starting to make up for how much of an asshole I've been, are you proud of me?_

_H: Extremely! Is it going well?_

_L: Actually, yes, much better than I imagined. At first, I thought he was terrified of me, and I was concerned I had actually emotionally scarred him or something, but after a little bit he began to relax, and by the time we were done talking, it seemed like he was actually completely comfortable with me. I'm making progress!_

_H: I am truly so proud of you, Lou._

_L: Proud enough that you'd tell me who you are? I promise I won't hate you._

_H: Someday_

_L: I guess I'll have to accept that as an answer, huh?_

"Who are you texting, hmmmmmmmm?" Nick asked, craning his neck to look at Harry's phone screen.

Harry laid his phone face down on the table. "My mother."

"Sure," He replied, laughing, "Because I look that that when I text my mother. You're full of shit, I know it's a boy. That's the look of someone who is texting a cute boy."

"You wouldn't know anything about that, would you?" Harry retorted.

"Harry! How dare you! Zayn! Harry is texting a cute boy and won't tell us who he is, and then he goes and insults me! What happened to our sweet, innocent Harry?" Nick questioned.

"I think he actually left the second he started hanging out with us," Zayn said, a pleased smile growing on his face. He met Harry's eyes, and nodded at him encouragingly. "Good for you, whoever you're texting."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Truly sorry this took so long, I started college (I'm a freshman, so this is a completely new experience for me) and I had band camp for over a week where I had very little free time. Hopefully I'll start posting more frequently and longer now, as I'm adjusting to classes and stuff. As long as I don't get too much work to do haha :)
> 
> Feel free to tell me what you think!!! I love when people talk to me and tell me how they feel about the story, it's really encouraging!!!!


	7. Chapter 7

**Louis**

Over the next few weeks, Louis started to make a habit of getting to school early so he could talk to Harry. The entire first week that he did this, Harry had the most surprised look on his face every time Louis sat down. 

"You do realize I'm making a habit here, right? You don't have to look so shocked every day," Louis said on the Friday after he started meeting Harry there. 

"I know, but I still think you'll have enough of me and decide to not come back. Or you'll remember how much you actually hate me because I'm friends with Zayn," Harry replied, not meeting Louis' eyes, instead choosing to stare at the seam on the side of his jeans. 

Louis reached forward, and put his hand on Harry's shoulder. "Harry. Look at me," he instructed. 

Harry listened, and Louis was struck by how pretty he was, overall. He couldn't believe he had made this lovely boy feel so bad about himself. 

"First thing, I am an asshole, you should be well aware of this, I think I have said it before, and I know I'll say it again. That means don't take anything I've said or done to you personally, that was all on me. Secondly, it doesn't matter who you're friends with, I like you for you. You're fun to talk to, I really enjoy spending these mornings with you. I don't even think of you as 'Zayn's friend' anymore. You're just Harry. You happen to be Zayn's friend, but that's fine. Zayn deserves friends just as much as I do, I suppose. Just know that I choose to come here because I like you, I like to hear what you have to say, spending time with you is fun, and I'm not going to give up on that for some stupid reason. Okay? Maybe even soon we could hang out when it's not early as fuck, and not on school property. Wouldn't that be a blast?" 

Harry laughed, and nodded. "Do you want to know a secret?" he whispered, as if he was about to tell Louis something that was absolutely confidential. 

"Of course I do," Louis replied. Harry gestured for Louis to get closer, so he did, and sat down right beside the other boy. 

Harry leaned into his ear and whispered, "I don't even hang out here every morning, I just came back because I hoped you would, too." 

Louis leaned back and laughed loudly, holding his stomach. "You mean to tell me that we've both been waking up extremely early, just to see each other? My mom is concerned for my wellbeing, since I've been getting up this early, it's so unusual for me that she thinks I'm sick or something. 

Harry grinned at him, "Kind of silly of us, isn't it?" 

Louis nodded in agreement. He reached in his bag and torn off the corner of a piece of notebook paper. He wrote down his locker number, and handed the paper to Harry. 

"Here, if you aren't busy tonight, you can meet me at my locker after school and we can go hang out. That way we don't have to sacrifice our precious morning hours anymore." 

When the bell rang that day, Louis walked to his frist class with a huge smile on his face. 

 

 

His smile didn't fade, not even through the hours of boring classes. By the time he got to lunch, he was a little bit afraid his cheeks were going to fall off. Lim and Niall noticed the change in their friend's mood immediately. 

"Did you win the lottery or something, or does English class really make you that happy?" Niall questioned. 

Louis debated on telling them, since he hadn't told them anything about his meetings with Harry before this, but he was so happy for the plans he had later in the day that he could barely hold it back. 

"So I might be hanging out with a cute boy tonight. Not in a date way, no, not at all, but it's still great," Louis gushed. 

Liam raised a questioning eyebrow at him. "Where did you find a cute boy?" 

Louis' eyes automatically flicked over to where Harry was sitting, Nick on his right and Zayn in front of him. Louis couldn't see more than the back of his curly head, but he had a full view of Zayn, and for a second their eyes met. Louis quickly looked back to his friends. 

"Harry?" He said, not knowing what else to add. He couldn't even explain what was going on between them. 

Niall gasped in genuine shock. "Oh my god you guys are going to date and it's going to be Romeo and Juliet all over again and Zayn might kill me, oh no, that won't be good. Hopefully you guys have a happier ending. And I don't die." 

"What the fuck, Niall?" Louis asked. 

"Maybe a bit over dramatic, there, pal," Liam commented, laughing. 

Niall shrugged, "I cannot help it, they will literally be star crossed lovers, oh my, I should start writing the book right now." 

"It's nothing, really," Louis assured, "We're just beginning to be friends, I doubt he'd even ever be interested in me after all the shit I've done to him. But I'm really excited that we can be friends, you know? He's a great guy." 

"I'm sure that's exactly what Juliet said at first, too," Niall muttered, crossing his arms over his chest and visibly upset by Louis' statement of the being just friends. 

"Shut up, Niall." 

 

 

**Harry**

The closer it got to the end of the school day, the more both his nerves and excitement grew. He was very eager to spend more time with Louis, especially outside the school grounds, but he was still worried that Louis would realize he actually hates him. 

He repeatedly told himself how silly he was being, but the fear still clung to the back of his mind. He tried to distract himself during his free period by doing homework, but eventually the numbers started to blend together, and he couldn't even add properly. There was a limit to how much math homework one could handle. 

Just as he gave up, and shut his textbook, someone pulled out the chair across from him at his table. He looked up, surprised, knowing it couldn't be Zayn or Nick considering they were both in class. He found Louis' friend, Niall, sitting across from him. 

"Oh, hello," Harry greeted, not sure what to say to him. He had never really talked to him before. 

"Hey," Niall replied, a huge smile on his face. "So, you know what I have heard? That you and Louis are friends." 

Harry was surprised, to say the least, "Did Louis say that?" 

Niall nodded. Harry shoved his book to the side, officially done doing any sort of homework. He had more interesting things to focus on now. 

"Really?" 

"Yes, why, do you not consider him your friend?" Niall asked, his smile slipping and forming a stern protective face instead. Harry was happy that Louis' had such good friends that cared about him so much. Liam was the first, giving Harry Louis' number and encouraging him to talk to him, and now Niall was making sure he thought of Louis as a friend, too. 

"Of course I do! I was just worried that he didn't actually like me," Harry informed him. 

"I have no doubt in my mind that he really, really likes you. You should have seen him smiling during lunch today, all because you guys are going to hang out after school. He's very excited." 

"That' wonderful," Harry exclaimed, "I'm excited, too, don't worry!" 

Niall's smile returned, and he leaned a bit closer to the table, looking more comfortable. "Excellent. Now, tell me about yourself, because I don't know much about you, which is a shame." 

When Harry's free period was over, he left with a possibly new found friend in Niall, and a good amount of stories about all the funny things Louis and his friends had gotten up to. Harry knew that Louis loved to play pranks on his friends, he had actually caught Louis in the act of filling Liam's locker with balloons, but he didn't know how often they actually did stuff like that. Based off of some of Niall's stories, they we're constantly messing around with each other. Harry had to imagine it was a cute image, Louis laughing after pulling off a particularly funny prank on one of his best friends. He couldn't wait to see that for himself.

His conversation with Niall helped ease his nerves, and by the time he was looking for Louis' locker, he was nothing but excited. He found Louis, standing beside his locker, flashing a big grin in Harry's direction when he saw him coming.

"Hey! Great to see you showed up, I was afraid you were going to ditch me," Louis said. They walked down the hallway, Harry following Louis wherever he wanted to take them.

"You know I would never do that. And if I changed my mind, I would at least come and tell you," Harry said.

"I never claimed it was a valid fear. Now are you ready for the Louis Tomlinson experience?" Louis questioned, turning to Harry with a completely serious expression on his face.

"Absolutely," Harry replied, laughing. "It will be interesting, I have no doubt."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Let me know what you think!
> 
> Also, this chapter was a struggle to write, I had to start over a few different times until something finally felt right. Definitely been a work in progress.


End file.
